Facility profile Utah

Brightway Adolescent Hospital

Closed St. George, Utah

Brightway Adolescent Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in St. George, Utah, operated by WWASP. It operated from 1993 to 1998.

About Brightway Adolescent Hospital

It was run by Utah Alcoholism Foundation.source It was run by WWASP / Teen Help.source

Survivor testimony

What people who lived or worked here say happened. Survivors' own words are published with their permission; forum accounts are what was posted publicly and are reported as claims, not findings.

Reported on survivor forums

Timeline

From the records: who ran it and the deals that moved it, its names, and the deaths, incidents, inspection findings, lawsuits and news stories on file. Point at an event, or tap "More about this", for the details.

19931998200319932003
  1. 1993

    1. Opened

      Opened in St. George, Utah

  2. 1998

    1. Incident

      Lawsuit

      Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Robert Hutchins took the parents of a teen sent from Oakland, CA to Brightway and then Tranquility Bay to court...

      Lawsuit

      Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Robert Hutchins took the parents of a teen sent from Oakland, CA to Brightway and then Tranquility Bay to court, arguing they had participated in his kidnapping.

      source

    2. IncidentMarch 1998

      Closure order

      Brightway closed in March 1998 after the case of a 16-year-old sent to Brightway and then Tranquility Bay drew scrutiny from state regulators.

      Closure order March 1998

      source

    3. Closed

      Closed

  3. 2003

    1. In the newsJuly 13, 2003

      Provo Canyon School Closure

      1 article in Los Angeles Times.

      Provo Canyon School Closure July 13, 2003

      This 2003 article examines Robert Browning Lichfield and his involvement in the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS) network. It details allegations of severe disciplinary practices, regulatory investigations, and lawsuits while highlighting Lichfield's financial and political influence.

Lawsuits

  • Mazder v. Teen Help Unknown Names this facility
  • Brightway Adolescent Hospital v. Health Plan of Nevada, Inc. Unknown Names this facility
  • Wood, et al. v. World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools, Inc., et al. Unknown | Fifth Judicial District Court, Washington County, Utah | 120500380 Names this facility

    William Chase Wood and several hundred other former students and their parents sued the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS), founder Robert Lichfield, his business partners and dozens of affiliated programs, marketing and billing companies in Utah's Fifth Judicial District Court in Washington County. The document on file is the plaintiffs' 228-page first amended complaint, submitted July 24, 2013, which refers to claim sheets filed in the case on December 17, 2012 in opposition to a WWASPS motion to dismiss. It alleges that students placed at WWASPS programs in Utah, other states, Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Samoa and the Czech Republic from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s were beaten, restrained, locked in isolation and small boxes or cages, denied food and medical care, sexually abused and forced to work without pay. It alleges the programs operated as a single enterprise that deceived parents and concealed the abuse, and brings negligence, fraud, contract, conspiracy and emotional distress claims. The document does not show how the case ended.

Every case in the lawsuit directory

Incidents on record

  1. 1998 Lawsuit

    Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Robert Hutchins took the parents of a teen sent from Oakland, CA to Brightway and then Tranquility Bay to court, arguing they had participated in his kidnapping.source

  2. March 1998 Closure order

    Brightway closed in March 1998 after the case of a 16-year-old sent to Brightway and then Tranquility Bay drew scrutiny from state regulators.source

  3. Abuse

    Reports indicate students were often heavily medicated at Brightway.source

  4. Investigation

    An investigation reportedly found that every student was recommended to a program after their stay and every recommended program was a WWASP facility, despite the facility being marketed as an independent evaluation center.source

  5. Restraint

    Children at Brightway were reportedly punished with solitary confinement, violent restraint and verbal abuse.source

News coverage

  • Los Angeles Times Jul 13, 2003 Corporate

    Key to His Schools’ Success? It’s God, Founder Says

    This 2003 article examines Robert Browning Lichfield and his involvement in the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS) network. It details allegations of severe disciplinary practices, regulatory investigations, and lawsuits while highlighting Lichfield's financial and political influence.

Staff

Administration

  • Ken Kay

    Former Director, Night staff (1998-2026, r/troubledteens wiki)source

    Elsewhere in the industry

    • Wwasp President and Public Voice, President, 1998-2025
    • World Wide Association of Specialty Schools and Programs (WWASPS) President, 2006
    • Pro-ED LLC Staff, 2006
    • Canyon View Park President of WWASPS, 2015
    • Camas Ranch President of WWASPS, 2019
    • Browning Academy Director/Superintendent, 2020
    • Browning Distance Learning Academy Superintendent
    • Cross Creek Programs Program Director
    • Wwasps President, 2010
    • Teen Help Vice President, 2010-2016
    • Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS) President, 2016

Notable staff

Connections on the network map

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Documents

From the Unsilenced archive

178 documents about Brightway Adolescent Hospital that Unsilenced collected and Kids Over Profits does not hold a copy of. They open on Unsilenced's Google Drive. Their whole folder: Brightway Adolescent Hospital.

Documents (178)

From SCIAD NET

1 document about Brightway Adolescent Hospital that Kids Over Profits does not hold a copy of. SCIAD NET keeps it on Google Drive, where it opens.

Wiki entries

Materials and links

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Other documentation

  • Archived website

External links

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Staff listing or directory

Advertising and marketing listings

Reference and research

From SCIAD NET.

Archived pages

Other links

Record updated . Generated from the Kids Over Profits facility database. Suggest a correction